It is that time of year when we start decorating for the Christmas season. Even though decorating the house and the Christmas tree are something my family and I enjoy doing, it is not without its moments of stress. It seems like every year I have a problem with the lights that I purchased. This year was no exception. Because we have had so many problems with the light on our Christmas tree last year we purchased a tree that came with the lights. My brother in law has had a lighted Christmas tree for years and never had any trouble with his, so we were optimistic that we would have no trouble as well. Of course I forgot that this was our tree and not his tree. As I worked to get the tree put together and the limbs arranged just right I noticed some of the lights were burned out. The burned out lights were all in one section and it was obvious from looking at the tree that lights were missing. I quickly discovered that one of the strands of lights were not connected and plugged the light into the outlet. There was light! I was happy that I was able to solve the lightless problem.
However, I then discovered another section that was not burning and this problem was not as easy to resolve. In fact as I examined the lights I discovered that there was a short somewhere, but I could not fix the problem. Sometimes the lights would flicker and sometimes they would not. I decided that it was not worth the stress to try and fix the problem. The tree looked okay without this particular strand of lights.
My next project was to string the lights on the house. We had lights left over from last year that when we took them down they were working fine. Yet when we went to put the strands up, one of the strands refused to work. We needed more lights so we purchased some new ones so that we could have adequate lights around house. The other strand, we wound up throwing in the trash.
We are such a throw away society. Years ago when we strung lights, if one light went out, you just replaced the bulb. It was easy to locate the burned out light and it was easy to replace. You just unscrewed the light and screwed in another one. Yet, today if one light burns out it will cause the entire section to burn out as well. It is not easy to find the burned out light and often times impossible. As a result, we just throw them out and purchase lights after Christmas that are on sale. We will be ready for next year and of course then we go through the whole thing again.
It is very frustrating because the thing about lights is that they are supposed to work and give light. Most people think that the Christmas lights make such beautiful decorations, but they actually have a greater purpose. The lights of the Christmas tree symbolize two things. First they represent the light of the world, which is Jesus Christ. Second, the lights represent our responsibility to be a light to the world. We are to shine like a light as we give testimony to the Light of the World.
Unfortunately most of us are like the lights on my Christmas tree. We often do not work. Jesus said that we are the light of the world and that we are to let our light shine before men. However, many of us are not putting forth much light or are not shining at all. I wonder if when Jesus comes to us He becomes frustrated with His lights? Does He look down from heaven above and see lights that should be shining, only to discover that they are not shining?
I am glad that Jesus is not like me. I throw aways lights that do not burn. Jesus patiently works with the light to help it shine forth like it is intended to shine. Jesus comes to each one of us and says "let there be light." Are you shining for Him this Christmas season? Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Why not this Christmas season we choose to leave the light on for Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment